Robert Lee (Bob) Newkirk

Bob was raised by his grandparents, in Springfield, Missouri where, along with helping out on their farm, he grew up hunting and fishing. At fourteen, he took a job running bootleg whiskey across dry counties which led to a lifelong interest and early career in racing for the nascent NASCAR circuit, where later in his life he was inducted into their Hall of Fame. Bob served in Korea as a U.S. Army Paratrooper and, after being wounded, became a ballistics instructor. After discharge, as a heavy equipment operator, Bob helped build the Table Rock Dam near Branson, Missouri. While there, for a time he dated the young singer Patsy Hensley who later went on to become Patsy Cline. Shortly thereafter, he married Carla Klostermeier and in 1956 became a father. Bob and family moved to Oakland, California in the late 1950’s where he began working as a truck driver. In the early 1970’s Bob became a Teamsters Representative and soon after went on to run his own trucking company Consumers Express Service with his third wife Anita Stillwagon. In 1984, Bob and Anita sold CES and moved to Grass Valley, where he ran his own businesses installing seamless aluminum gutters and operating heavy equipment. Bob maintained a life-long interest in hunting, both locally in the Sierra Nevada and on two memorable trips to New Zealand and Hawaii. After retiring in his late 70s, Bob enjoyed spending time gardening, watching NASCAR races and reading Westerns. He is survived by his wife Sheree, his son Cole Newkirk and his stepson Michael Llewellyn.